Today we travelled up Mount Etna, the active volcano on the island of Sicily. Although the Sun was shining brightly, there was a very strong wind, which prevented us from travelling to the very top on the cable car.
The highlight of our day was a journey on the Circumetnea train. This brave little single car, train rattles and rolls its way around the base of Mount Etna serving the local communities. The friendly drivers let us take a few photos through the drivers cab window and I put a video together of the journey.
Two days ago, we visited Pompeii and the weather gods held the rain off until after our guided tour had finished.
Yesterday we took the train to Sicily. We started the morning with a coach journey to Salerno where we boarded the train. This train is one of three remaining in Europe where the entire train rolls onto the ferry. We then cross the streets of Messina on the ferry, carrying our train with us, and then, once in Messina, the train splits in half. Our half continued on to Taormina and Siracusa, the other half of the train to the capital, Palermo.
Of course, no, Italian journey is complete without the usual cats and dogs, and I found these two on the ferry crossing.
Taormina station is beautiful. One of the oldest maintained in Italy. It was used as a location in the film the Godfather III. 
Tomorrow we fly back home to London, so this is the last post for this tour. I’ve got about 48 hours off at home and then I travel to Alsace for the next tour during which I will of course be blocking. Until then
TimOnTheTrain 